Education Mission

The New-York Historical Society Education Division provides dynamic programming and curriculum resources for students and teachers in New York and beyond. Historical study sparks curiosity and creativity, promotes cultural understanding, and fosters an empowered citizenry to strengthen our democracy. Our staff of passionate professionals draws on our world-renowned collections to engage learners of all ages in the study of our collective past.

Education programs made possible through endowments established by:
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Hearst Foundations
The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation

Public funding provided by:
Institute for Museum and Library Services
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council
New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature

Support the New-York Historical Society

Bring your students on a trip to the oldest museum in New York! Whether they are visiting a special exhibition or our beautifully redesigned permanent collection galleries, students will be actively engaged with the stuff of history—the artifacts, works of art, and documents that provide a window onto our collective past.

A talented Museum Educator leads every inquiry-driven 90-minute experience. Programs are carefully scaffolded to meet students’ needs across all ages and learning styles. Each of the topics below supports the Common Core State Standards and the New York State Learning Standards for Social Studies and the Arts.

Field trips cost $90/class for schools within New York City and $150/class for non-NYC schools. A class can have up to 30 students and must have one chaperone for every ten students.

The Vietnam War (grades 4 – 12)October 6, 2017 – April 22, 2018
Explore our ground-breaking exhibition on the Vietnam War, encountering such topics as the Cold War, the draft, military campaigns, and the antiwar movement. More about this exhibition.

Holiday Express: Playing in the Past (PK – grade 5)October 27, 2017 – February 25, 2018
Students will learn about the lives of children long ago by exploring an enchanting exhibit of model trains and toys. All aboard! More about this exhibition.

The Fight for Women's Suffrage (grades 4 – 12)November 3, 2017 – March 25, 2018
Visit our Center for Women’s History to learn how immigrants, socialists, artists, and radicals came together in early 20th-century Greenwich Village to transform American society and culture.

Maps of the American Revolution (grades 2 – 12)November 3, 2017 – March 11, 2018
Learn how to decode historical maps and find valuable clues about the birth of the United States in We Are One—a special exhibition of American Revolution maps developed in conjunction with the Boston Public Library.

Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy: Rebel Spirits (grades 6 – 12)February 26 – May 20, 2018
Commemorate the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by examining his complicated relationship with another counter-culture leader of the 1960s, Robert F. Kennedy.

Fancy for Feathers: The Work of John James Audubon (PK – grade 12)April 6 – July 15, 2018
Learn how the fashion industry brought some of North America’s birds to the edge of extinction and how Audubon inspired a conservation movement that still protects our native birds.

History on our Feet (grades 3 – 12)April 13 – August 26, 2018
Use designer Stuart Weitzman’s collection of historical shoes to learn how this staple of the human wardrobe can reveal important information about the lifestyles and cultures of people long ago.

The Four Freedoms (grades 3 – 12)May 25 – September 2, 2018
This special exhibition program introduces students to the famous Normal Rockwell paintings of President Franklin D. Roosevelt‘s four freedoms, and roots the works in their historical context.

Life in New Amsterdam (grades 2 – 12)
Why did the Dutch West India Company start a settlement in New York Harbor? What was it like to live in a tiny town at the edge of the known world? Learn about the founding settlement that became New York.

Slavery in New York (grades 2 – 12)
Uncover the central role enslaved people played in the history of New York City, and how historians have uncovered this lost story.

British New York (grades 2 – 12) New!
Explore life under British colonial rule in the years prior to the outbreak of the American Revolution.

The American Revolution in New York (grades 4 – 12)
Experience New York’s role in the war for our nation’s independence from the perspective of the soldiers who fought in it.

New York, New Nation (grades 4 – 12) New!
Consider the challenges that faced the Early Republic, and the central role New York played in defining the new nation.

New York and the Civil War (grades 4 – 12)
Examine the experiences of Civil War soldiers and the events of the Draft Riots to learn about New York City’s complicated relationship with the Union cause.

Industrialization (grades 2 – 12)
Investigate how life in New York City was transformed by the innovations of the Industrial Age—for better or for worse.

Immigrant City (grades 2 – 12) New!
Since 1609, waves of immigrants have arrived in New York Harbor. Encounter newcomers from different cultures around the globe, and learn how each wave helped shape the city we know today.

FDR’s Presidency and Legacy (grades 4 – 12) New!
Use the long political career of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to learn about the Progressive Era, the Great Depression and the New Deal, and WWII.

Then and Now Series (PK – grade 5) New!
Examine objects and images from our permanent collections to discover how life over the past 400 years compares with our 21st Century expectations and technologies. Choose to book one or more of these topics. Your class can come again and again to examine the past from every angle!

Learning History with Paintings (PK – grade 12)
Learn to “read” a painting for clues about the past, analyzing and interpreting symbols and themes in different works of art from our world-renowned collection.

Meet the Beekmans (PK – grade 2)
Introduce your students to the basics of historical study through an investigation of the Beekman children, eight siblings who lived in colonial New York.

Objects Tell Stories (grades 3 – 12)
Learn how to read seemingly simple, everyday objects to make inferences about life and people long ago, just like a historian.

Being a Historian (grades 3 – 12)
Learn what it takes to be a historian during this highlights tour of our collection.

A Day at the Museum (PK – grade 2)
Take a highlights tour around the museum to learn what a museum is, why museums exist, and how the people who work in them keep them running.

History Detectives in the DiMenna Children’s History Museum (grades 2 – 6)
Play and learn in the DiMenna Children’s History Museum to learn how historians study the past and achieve the rank of history detective.

The Patricia D. Klingenstein Library Partnership (grades 7 – 12)Available year-round
Learn how historians piece together a complete understanding of the past by getting up close and personal with the primary sources of the New-York Historical Society’s unparalleled library and museum collections. In this special two-hour program, students have the opportunity to interact with original primary source documents, facilitated by a Reference Librarian, and analyze objects in the museum galleries with a Museum Educator to draw connections among documents, images, and artifacts. Library Partnership programs are $160/class.

Choose one topic per two-hour visit:

Deconstructing the Civil War
This program gives students the opportunity to study the events and the impact of the deadliest war in American history from the perspective of those who lived it.

Tech Commons Programs Coming soon!
In conjunction with the opening of the new Tech Commons @ New-York Historical, we will offer a menu of exciting field trip opportunities to empower the next generation of historians, writers, scholars, and history-lovers. Cutting-edge technological tools will promote learning, scholarly research, and creative thinking in guided, age-appropriate activities.

Research in the Digital Age (grades 4 – 12)
In the age of “alternative facts” how is a student to know who to trust? In this 90-minute workshop students learn how to effectively conduct online historical research and identify valid sources of information.More new programming to be announced

In this fast-paced scavenger hunt, teams of students compete to discover the secrets of the New-York Historical Society’s treasure trove of objects and artwork before time runs out. When time is up the entire class will attend a viewing of our film New York Story while they wait to find out who won the prize!

The MEGA Scavenger Hunt can serve any group size, from two to 200, and the program lasts 90 minutes total. Booking times vary, and can be tailored to your specific needs.